Data merge questions

[sweethoss]

First off, I'm a relatively new purchaser, about a few weeks ago, in fact.  Data merge is a game changer and something I wanted but purchased without knowing it'd be here so soon.  I mainly use it for laying out cards for various sports board games that I play.  I was able to get the data merge feature working quite easily, but I have a few questions.  

1. Is there a way to get it to repeat in the following pattern:

 

2. Is there a way to create a layout like below where there are 14 spots on the page that need to be merged based on 14 records in a CSV file, but they don't follow a repeatable pattern?

3. Lastly, once I generate the data merge, the data file is gone from the "data manager" and I need to relink it, and my data manager layout is now filled in with the data, but I can't easily run another import without setting it all back up again for another run.  Is there a way to preserve all of this so it doesn't go away after generation?

Thanks!!! loving the product so far.

Edited February 4, 2021 by sweethoss
spelling error

[sweethoss]

Aha! For my question #3 I figured it out...it doesn't go away, it just generates a completely new document.  

[sweethoss]

Found the answer to #2 as well, changed the pattern...

[Dan C]

Hi @sweethoss,

My sincerest apologies for the delayed reply here!

I'm very glad to hear you've been able to resolve a few of these questions, and we appreciate you providing information regarding this for other users

In regards to 'repeating a pattern', I'm not personally overly familiar with Data Merging, however as I understand it;  "If you create a single design on one spread with your placed fields, e.g. for names and/or addresses. When you merge with your data file, new pages will be generated until all the data records have been processed and exhausted."

Does this follow the correct 'pattern' you're looking for?

Many thanks in advance!

[h_d]

If you use the Data Merge Layout tool to draw up the layout, you can set the flow order using the buttons in the Context Toolbar:

 

 

Cheers,

H

EDIT:

Just realised that @sweethoss was asking how to create an 'unbalanced' layout with eight cells down the left and four down the right. This appears to be possible by creating two single-column data layouts on the layout page, setting up the text frames, images and fields in the first one, and then duplicating the text and image elements to the right-hand data layout. On a very brief test, this flowed the info as required.

One page, two data layouts, five rows on the left, two on the right:

My data is in numeric and alphabetical order, so is the generated document:

Not sure if this is a documented feature but it's pretty damn clever 

 

 

[sweethoss]

On 2/13/2021 at 6:06 AM, Dan C said:

Hi @sweethoss,

My sincerest apologies for the delayed reply here!

I'm very glad to hear you've been able to resolve a few of these questions, and we appreciate you providing information regarding this for other users

First of all, no worries on answering this, I appreciate your reply.  

Quote

In regards to 'repeating a pattern', I'm not personally overly familiar with Data Merging, however as I understand it;  "If you create a single design on one spread with your placed fields, e.g. for names and/or addresses. When you merge with your data file, new pages will be generated until all the data records have been processed and exhausted."

Does this follow the correct 'pattern' you're looking for?

Let me see if I can explain this...your sentence about how data merge works is correct.  You create one design and it repeats in a pattern table, either across a row then down to the next row, or down one column and then starting again at the top of the next column as @h_d mentioned above.  It repeats consistently  I've got that working great.

What I'm attempting and I think is not possible is a way to merge data into my document when it doesn't follow a pattern.  If you reference this image:

You'll see that each player (orange bordered tables) isn't in a table layout, there's no columns or rows, they are just placed on the page, so the data layout tool won't help me here.  The feature I'm requesting is the ability to tie an object to a specific record in the dataset so it populates the fields from the specified record instead of needing the data layout manager to handle the merging.

Make sense? 

[Old Bruce]

You will need a single CSV document with a record (one Row) for StateName (Florida) containing Offense Player Position and what ever the hell the stats are plus the same for Defence. Then a row for Georgia etc.

Make your layout with a text tool and type labels then insert the StateName above Defence and go and use the text tool to insert the Player and Position and all the stats fields wherever you want them. Repeat for Offence 

Your document before merging will have a few static text labels with several <field 1> <field 2> <field three> <Position>  <Whatever you have named this one> placed with the text tool and double clicking on the appropriate field from the Fields panel.

[h_d]

39 minutes ago, sweethoss said:

Make sense? 

Definitely - you can create as many single-column single-row data merge layouts as you need, positioned wherever you want on the base document:

 

Data will flow in as expected, and you can reposition the individual frames in the generated document if required:

Cheers,

H

 

[sweethoss]

Quote

Definitely - you can create as many single-column single-row data merge layouts as you need, positioned wherever you want on the base document:

@h_d In that method, you'd have one single-cell data layout per player, and you'd have to limit each data source to the record you're pointing to e.g., the first datasource would be record 1, the second datasource would be record 2, etc...

@Old Bruce thanks, I am not quite sure I understand what you're saying, but I'll give it a whirl and perhaps it'll click when I put it into practice.

P.S. In case you're wonderying why he hell I want to do this, it's easier to enter the data in a spreadsheet and then have the layout lay it all out for you.  I could just enter them manually by hand, but it's just quicker to dump into a file, and the ratings can then be generated by a program and easily imported in.

[h_d]

Hi,

I hope I've got this right...

This is my data source, tab-delimited, one row per player, (random names and numbers):

This is my initial design for a single box, inside a single-column, single-row data merge layout:

 

I then use the Data Merge Manager to apply records fields to the individual text frames in the layout:

 

This is how my document page now looks:

 

I then duplicate the data merge layout to create my (somewhat basic) page design:

I then generate the data merge:

 

Am I on the right track?

I've attached the data source and the two .afpub files.

Cheers,

H

 

 

 

 

sporty base.afpub sporty generated.afpub sporty. people.tsv

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, sweethoss said:

P.S. In case you're wonderying why he hell I want to do this, it's easier to enter the data in a spreadsheet and then have the layout lay it all out for you.  I could just enter them manually by hand, but it's just quicker to dump into a file, and the ratings can then be generated by a program and easily imported in.

The heart wants what the heart wants. [smiley face emoticon]

Seriously though, how many teams/states are you doing this for? A large number of them is where the Data Merge capabilities will shine.

I would need to see the spreadsheet to help you more. I think it is doable but have no real idea what you are working with. Is it several teams or just one makes a huge difference.

[Wosven]

It would be something like this…

board_to_merge.afpub

players.csv

[SallijaneG]

Thanks; seeing this project laid out helped me get my address labels to work!  (on 15 individual, label-sized pages—next step, using an Avery label template.)

It has been a long time since I did this sort of project.

[sweethoss]

I must have missed all these updated posts! I didn't mean to ghost after you graciously offered to help.  I will try what you have detailed above and report back.

[sweethoss]

@h_d That worked great!!! I'm surprised Data Merge knows to apply a new record to each box since I would've assumed that it would only repeat within a single data manager, and thus I would've expected that it would just represent the same first record in each of the data merge objects.  

[sweethoss]

I see, so it definitely acts a little weird, creates extra duplicated pages...

[SallijaneG]

How many records did you have?  24?  I think it copied the format of the first page to create enough boxes for each.  I cheated with mine, given that I had to get them in the mail today and still had copies to make and multiple meetings, exported the pages as JPEGs and inserted them into the Open Office template for Avery labels.  Next time, I convert the template to a PDF, import it into Publisher, and try again.

[BertD]

On 2/4/2021 at 10:26 PM, sweethoss said:

3. Lastly, once I generate the data merge, the data file is gone from the "data manager" and I need to relink it, and my data manager layout is now filled in with the data, but I can't easily run another import without setting it all back up again for another run.  Is there a way to preserve all of this so it doesn't go away after generation?

Thanks!!! loving the product so far.

 

That's an issue I'm looking for an answer to. I have a film programme, 350 entries. Set up the layout, hooked it up, and run the data merge. Great, works as expected. However when you end up with a new document how do you update that document when the data is updated?

As this data is part of a programme, there's other pages added to it. As it stands the only way is to generate a new data merge and manually put the new data merge into the programme again?

What is the thinking behind creating a new document when running a data merge?

 

Bert

 

 

 

 

[Old Bruce]

6 hours ago, BertD said:

Set up the layout, hooked it up, and run the data merge. Great, works as expected. However when you end up with a new document how do you update that document when the data is updated?

Just re-run the Datamerge with the updated Excel/CSV/TSV file.

Save the Layout Document as Layout Doc for FilmFest and save the other document as FilmFest Program 2021-05-06 v 01, the second version as FilmFest Program 2021-05-06 v 02,  third version as FilmFest Program 2021-05-06 v 03  etc.

[sweethoss]

Yep, that's what I do.  The only time it's an issue is if you want to update something globally after you've edited the generated result, you have to go back and re-edit the layout, generate it, and redo your edits/tweaks.  It is what it is.  I've been able to do so much with this 

[BertD]

On 5/6/2021 at 3:50 PM, sweethoss said:

Yep, that's what I do.  The only time it's an issue is if you want to update something globally after you've edited the generated result, you have to go back and re-edit the layout, generate it, and redo your edits/tweaks.  It is what it is.  I've been able to do so much with this 

 

That's the main thing for me. Once you've imported the data, there's a lot more that needs to be added to the programme, not just the data from the spreadsheet. So once that's all added in and you've re-arranged things I don't see a way to update the data in that document.

You always have to go back to the layout, re-run and then merge the two layouts. The spreadsheet generated one and the actual layout. Unless I'm missing something?

 

 

Bert